2011-09-04 - Deepest, darkest Essex - part 2 - Foulness

Essex? It's all flat and boring, furry dice, anti-social behaviour and slogging out to Epping with traffic roaring past you to get to the lanes, the Range Rover murders, boy racers, Ford 'Crappis' and self-made Cockneys done good, The Only Way is...

...isn't it?

Nope. Essex can also be remote, beautiful, eerie and surprisingly friendly. It's a county with lots of sparsely populated, unspoilt countryside, wild and remote coast and lovely lanes. But it has a dark side. Private companies finding new ways to kill people, dying nuclear power stations, smugglers... it's all there.

For this second ride we will visit the heritage centre in the village of Churchend, on the island of Foulness. We will then hopefully follow the byway down to the village of Courtsend.

Er, so why are we going to a heritage centre? Good question...

Foulness is a top secret military installation (shh..). It's covered by the Official Secrets Act and controlled by shady quasi-military private enterprise QinetiQ (pronounced 'kinetic'). Entry to the island requires a special pass. You used to be able to get this by phoning ahead to the George and Dragon pub (pictured above), but unfortunately it closed in 2007. The island's population has been in decline for a while and QinetiQ haven't made it easy for the residents - jacking up rents and being difficult with the passes and so on.

So... Mr and Mrs Carr, who run the heritage centre, are kindly sponsoring our trip onto the island. As they've been so kind, we'd better look interested!

The usual rules will follow later, but there are a few special ones/things to note:

When we get to Foulness, do not stray from the road, unless you fancy being blown up by an unexploded ordnance. I will guide the way. You may see stuff like this, don't panic:

Rules of engagement

1. The ride is strictly capped at 20 riders. So no bedwetting please.
   
2. We may be followed by military police while on the island. This is quite normal. Please follow their direction if requested.
   
3. The route distance has been declassified as a propaganda measure. It is 60 miles precisely.
   
4. The route remains classified for operational reasons.
   
5. Bring plenty of food, there may not be time for a pub stop.
   
6. You are being permitted to use the private spine road to travel directly to and from the Heritage Centre and must not divert from this route. You should also be aware of the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act and the requirement not to disturb certain species of nesting bird, by photography or any other activity.
   
   

(They may be killers, but they're caring killers. Apparently there are bird boxes on top of the watch towers).

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   
4. Fussballclub
   

I'd love to come if you don't mind me giggling with excitement for the whole ride.

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   
4. Fussballclub
   
5. Stonehedge
   

This sounds completely brilliant.

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   
4. Fussballclub
   
5. Stonehedge
   
6. PP
   
   

sounds amazing

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   
4. Fussballclub
   
5. Stonehedge
   
6. PP
   
7. smiff
   

sounds brilliant

admin Says:
April 1st, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Thank you for your comment.

For information on all QinetiQ activities at Shoeburyness please contact QinetiQ’s Careline on 0800 0560108.

Note: All comments are moderated before they appear on the site. It may take up to two working days before they are approved. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.

Rochford District Matters Online is intended as a platform for discussion, if you have a specific query regarding a Council service, please contact them using our Contact pages http://www.rochford.gov.uk/contact.php or telephone 01702 546366.

fucking in!

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   
4. Fussballclub
   
5. Stonehedge
   
6. PP
   
7. smiff
   
8. Sumo
   

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   
4. Fussballclub
   
5. Stonehedge
   
6. PP
   
7. smiff
   
8. Sumo
   
9. Oliver Schick
   

stunning photos, Fox, especially the first.

haven't met any of you apart from Oliver briefly and drunkenly at the weekend so hope its ok if I butt in. This sounds amazing!

1. Fox
   
2. Spybot
   
3. Dropout
   
4. Fussballclub
   
5. Stonehedge
   
6. PP
   
7. smiff
   
8. Sumo
   
9. Oliver Schick
   
10. punkture
    

this looks like beautiful ride.

i didnt read it properly

.

stunning photos, Fox, especially the first.

Not my photos I'm afraid, stolen from Flickr, as doing a reccie of the final bit of this ride is definitely not possible! But yes really liked the first two particularly, both by the same person.

admin Says:
April 1st, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Thank you for your comment.

For information on all QinetiQ activities at Shoeburyness please contact QinetiQ’s Careline on 0800 0560108.

Note: All comments are moderated before they appear on the site. It may take up to two working days before they are approved. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.

Rochford District Matters Online is intended as a platform for discussion, if you have a specific query regarding a Council service, please contact them using our Contact pages http://www.rochford.gov.uk/contact.php or telephone 01702 546366.

Ludwig what have you done..?!

Wow, so I really didn't expect all 10 places to go so quickly. I'm going to seek further clarification on numbers and try to up it at least a bit. But there is a scenario where just to cover myself I say anyone above 10 will need to enter the island separately to the main group.

Please note I've added a requirement to bring some form of decent photo ID (passport or driving licence). You may need this at Shoeburyness.

Wow, so I really didn't expect all 10 places to go so quickly.

Doesn't surprise me at all. I'm glad I noticed this in time and just squeaked in.

Reserves List

1. Gav86
   

Second reserve

1. Gav86
   
2. Samuelson
   

Looking out of window now it looks like 100% of foulness has come to London rather than 0.000125% of London going to foulness.

I hope you don't mean the radioactivity...

The Community Liason Officer for Shoeburyness comes back from holiday on 16th August. QinetiQ are now aware of our plans, I have her details and we'll be talking when she gets back.

So there will be a slight delay for those on the reserve list but I am hopeful of a positive outcome after the 16th.

I live in Essex so would be great to join the group for most of the ride, even if the final destination is off limits due to numbers.

Reserves List

1. Gav86
   
2. Samuelson
   
3. StuF
   

Damn sounds like a good ride....will have to try and convince my son not to do the Skyride this year...!!!!